From pleasure to disgust. The grotesque in the oeuvre of João de Ruão

Abstract

Within the theoretical frame of recent research on grotesqueness and monstrosity, marginality and transgression, both on the physical and epistemological margins of art, this paper intends to approach the relationship between João de Ruão’s oeuvre and the grotesque. In a long 16th century, with so many different challenges to the conceptual apparatus, and so many stimuli to the visual framework of an artist as industrious and as qualified as João de Ruão, it seems timely to question in what circumstances, and with what resources did he call upon the grotesque and the bizarre in his work. Qualities such as grotesqueness, ugliness, monstrosity and hybridism will be variably searched and inquired in their nature, context, and function. And parergonal figures, such as gargoyles and decorative masks, along with the traditional adversaries of Christianity, such as heathens and the devil himself, will be approached in four case studies tentatively put in a comparative context, regarding similar expressions in sculpture, painting and other media. By taking a closer look at these less visible images, we hope to contribute to deepen our insight into João de Ruão’s role as an artist of European Renaissance.